The former U.S. Soccer star says she "underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become" during the pandemic.
Hope Solo is taking accountability for her actions. The 40-year-old former U.S. Soccer goalkeeper has pled guilty to driving while impaired at a hearing in connection to her March arrest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and has offered a public statement on what she's calling "the worst mistake of my life."
According to numerous reports, her two-year-old twins were in the car when she was approached by authorities in a Walmart parking lot. At the time, she was booked for impaired driving (DWI), resisting arrest and misdemeanor child abuse.
Solo entered a guilty plea for DWI on Monday, while her attorney, Chris Clifton, said the remaining two charges were voluntarily dismissed, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
"It’s been a long road, but I’m slowly coming back from taking time off. I pride myself in motherhood and what my husband and I have done day in and day out for over two years throughout the pandemic with two-year old twins," Solo wrote in a statement on Instagram. "While I’m proud of us, it was incredibly hard and I made a huge mistake. Easily the worst mistake of my life.
"I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become," she continued. "The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly. Learning these lessons has been difficult, and at times, very painful."
In April, Solo said that she would be voluntarily entering an in-patient alcohol treatment program.
According to the Journal, Forsyth District judge Victoria Roemer ordered Solo to pay $2,500 in fines and $600 for the cost of lab tests and instructed her to "get a substance abuse assessment and complete all recommended treatment." If the requirements are fulfilled, Roemer said that Solo would not be required to serve a 24-month sentence. The judge waived an additional 30-day sentence in light of Solo's already-completed 30-day program at Hope Valley treatment facility.
"The women at Hope Valley are true leaders in their professions, filled with knowledge and insight on how to live a more healthy life balanced with kindness, empathy, tough love and understanding. Their no nonsense way of leading is a leadership style I have always admired and respected," Solo wrote in her public statement. "I continue to be a student of the greatest school called life and I will continue to learn and grow from these experiences. I will continue to gain empathy, knowledge, and stories to share. I consider this a gift to pass it on to others because pain shared is pain lessened."
Solo -- a two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion during the U.S. Women's National Team's run in the 2000s -- also thanked her husband, former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens, and her mother for their unwavering support.
"I look forward to opening up and sharing more with everyone in the coming weeks," she noted.
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